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Bye Bye Birdie (Columbia Pictures film)
Bye Bye Birdie is a musical comedy film, it is an adaptation of the stage production of the same name. The screenplay was written by Michael Stewart and Irving Brecher, with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams. Directed by George Sidney, the film version starred Dick Van Dyke, Maureen Stapleton, Janet Leigh, Paul Lynde, Bobby Rydell, Ann-Margret, and Jesse Pearson, who plays the role of teen idol Conrad Birdie. It also features a cameo appearence by Ed Sullivan, who appears as himself, the host of the popular, long-running CBS TV variety show. The story was inspired by the phenomenon of popular singer Elvis Presley and his being drafted into the United States Army in 1957. Presley himself was the first choice for the role of Birdie, but his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, rejected the idea as he did not want Presley in any roles that were parodies of himself. The film is credited with making Ann-Margret a superstar during the mid-1960s, leading to her appearing with the real Elvis in Viva Las Vegas. The soundtrack was released by RCA Victor in 1964. In 2006, the film was ranked number 38 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. Despite the film's box office success, it opened to mixed reviews, with unfavorable comparisons to the Broadway production. Some noted its mediocre production values, rewriting of the script, changes in the musical score, and disappointing choreography in some songs. The film was released in theaters on April 4, 1963. Plot Conrad Birdie, a popular rock and roll star, receives an army draft notice which is devastating his teenage fans across the nation. Albert Peterson is an unsuccessful songwriter in his family's business, although he has a doctorate in biochemistry. He schemes with his secretary and long-suffering girlfriend Rosie DeLeon to have Conrad sing a song Albert has written, but Conrad's conscription puts a halt to the plan. Rosie convinces Ed Sullivan to have Conrad sing the song "One Last Kiss" on The Ed Sullivan Show, and then kiss a randomly chosen high school girl goodbye before going off to the army. Once that is a success, Albert will feel free to marry Rosie, despite his meddlesome mother Mae's long history of ensuring nothing will come between her and her beloved son. Sweet Apple, Ohio, is chosen as the location for Conrad's farewell performance. The random lucky girl chosen is Kim MacAfee, who is thrilled. Kim already has a sweetheart, Hugo Peabody, who is not so thrilled. The teenagers of Sweet Apple, blissfully unaware of their town's impending fame, are spending time on the telephone catching up on the latest gossip: Kim and Hugo have just gotten pinned and are going steady. Kim feels grown up, and declares that she knows how it feels to be a woman. On the day Conrad arrives in town, the teenage girls sing their anthem to him, but the boys despise him for their girls' love for him. Sweet Apple becomes a very popular place, but some of the local adults are unhappy with the sudden celebrity, especially after Conrad shows off his hip-thrusting moves while his song "Honestly Sincere" causes every female and a few males to faint. Under pressure from the town's notable citizens, Mr. McAfee is unwilling to allow his daughter to kiss Conrad on television, but Albert placates him by telling him that their whole family will be on Sullivan's TV show. Albert reveals to Mr. McAfee that he is actually a biochemist who has developed a miracle supplement for domestic animals that will make a hen lay 3 eggs a day; they test it on the family's pet tortoise, which speeds off out the door. McAfee is a fertilizer salesman and he sees a great future for himself in partnership with Albert for marketing this pill. Hugo feels threatened by Conrad but Kim reassures him that he is the one boy for her, while Rosie feels like Albert does not appreciate her, so Albert persuades her to be happy. Albert's mother shows up, distressed to find Albert and Rosie together. Mr. MacAfee is also agitated, not liking the way Conrad is taking over his house. They lament what is wrong with kids these days. During rehearsal for the broadcast, an impatient Conrad kisses Kim and she faints, while Hugo is hurt over this, so he and Kim break up. Albert is told that the Russian ballet has switched to a different dance that needs extra time, therefore eliminating his song and the farewell kiss to Kim. Rosie is fed up with Albert and his mother, so she dances and flirts with a room full of men at a shriners convention. Albert rescues her from the crazed shriners. Albert does request to have the ballet shortened to at least four minutes so there will be enough time for Conrad to sing his song, but the arrogant ballet manager initially refuses to have it shortened as he believes that cutting time would mean "artistic sabotage" to such a classic piece of work. However, Rosie slips one of Albert's pills into the milk of the orchestra's conductor to speed up the ballet, which not only amuses the audience, but also offends the Russians. There is a last-minute scramble to fill air time, and Conrad does get to appear on the show and sing "One Last Kiss". Hugo interrupts the actual kiss by running onstage and knocking out Conrad on live TV. Kim and Hugo reunite. Albert is free to marry now and his mother agrees, revealing that she is now married to a widower she met the previous evening. All the couples, including Mae and her new husband, live happily ever after. Cast of characters Janet Leigh as Rosie DeLeon Dick Van Dyke as Albert Peterson Ann-Margret as Kim MacAfee Jesse Pearson as Conrad Birdie Paul Lynde as Harry MacAfee Mary LaRoche as Doris MacAfee Maureen Stapleton as Mae Peterson Bobby Rydell as Hugo Peabody Michael Evans as Claude Paisley Robert Paige as Bob Precht Gregory Morton as Maestro Borov Bryan Russell as Randolph McAfee Milton Frome as Mr. Maude Ed Sullivan as himself Trudi Ames as Ursula Linda Kaye Henning as Nancy Peter Menefee as Harvey Johnson John Daly as himself Kim Darby as a teenager Song list Bye Bye Birdie The Telephone Hour How Lovely To Be A Woman We Love You, Conrad We Hate You, Conrad Honestly Sincere Hymn For A Sunday Evening One Boy Put On A Happy Face Kids A Lot Of Livin' To Do One Last Kiss Rosie Bye Bye Birdie Reprise Differences from the stage musical In the film, the names of the characters Albert J. Peterson and Rosie Alvarez were changed to Albert F. Peterson and Rosie DeLeon. In addition to the name change, Albert is not Conrad Birdie's agent nor an aspiring English teacher but a talented research chemist, who contributed to Conrad's initial success, and therefore Conrad owes him a favor. And when Rosie and Albert get back together at the film's end, it is because Conrad's being a guest in Sweet Apple is over as he goes into the army, not because either character had shown any growth. The plot structure is altered so that The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast is at the end of the movie; in the stage musical, it is at the closing of the first act. There is no suggestion that Conrad got tired of show business, or that he suffered anything other than the embarrassment of being knocked out before an audience of millions of viewers. The follwing songs were omitted from the film: An English Teacher A Healthy, Normal, American Boy What Did I Ever See In Him? Baby, Talk To Me Kids Reprise Spanish Rose Trivia The director of the movie, George Sidney, was so very much infatuated with Ann-Margret and taken by her talents that he decided to highlight and showcase her by putting her front and center to greatly expand her character's minor role from two songs to five songs. As a result of this, everyone else in the cast was reduced to supporting status and shunted to the background, in addition to some of their characters' songs being dropped entirely. The movie's then newly-created but now legendary opening and closing sequences where Ann-Margret sings an on-screen prelude and reprise the title song "Bye Bye, Birdie" are not a part of the story, but they display her character arc from a whining petulant little girl who laments how dull her life will become without Conrad Birdie into a beautiful grown woman who is now wise and bids Conrad a fond goodbye. Category:Movies